Satin Shackles
by WordGrinder
Summary: When his brother gifts him a fucked up 'toy' that has a bloody history, Sasuke makes it his personal quest to figure out what has made the man into the monster he'd become. He hopes to find a friend in a brutal world that does anything in its power to reject him, but with a potentially powerful protector by his side he might just be able to find a place in the world for them both.
1. Prologue

Satin Shackles.

Prologue.

"Ugh… _Why_? Why must I come with you? You know I absolutely hate shopping, and you actually have me tag along shopping for _accessories_? I've decided: you hate me." Sasuke was walking extra slowly, making it known to his elder brother that he was moping. The man didn't really seem to care, however, he decided a different approach. "I'm supposed to be at school, you know, dad's going to be pissed at you for just randomly pulling me out of class." He wiped at his nose, never mind the fact that he hadn't actually been in class at the time… but was in the middle of being beat up pretty bad in the stairwell. Itachi looked back at his younger sibling in annoyance. "Mother asked me to take you here, you're fourteen now, it's about time you had some accessories of you own." He halted in his step. "We're here."

Sasuke looked up at the building in front of them. It looked like a perfectly ordinary shop, except the windows were covered by long burgundy curtains and there was no sign stating its purpose anywhere. Itachi opened the door and walked in, and Sasuke followed him. What had his mother meant by that? What kind of a thing were they going shopping for exactly? He secretly hoped it would be a firearm or other kind of weapon, if he had one of those his classmates wouldn't dare pick on him anymore. Of course he could just tell his father what was going on, but that would disgrace him more than the frequent beatings ever could. The salesman greeted his brother cheerfully, leading him to a door in the back of the tiny, what appeared to be, liquor store. "A new shipment just came in, there's sure to be something of interest for you! And this will be Sasuke's first, isn't that right?" Itachi answered him, since said youngster's voice had gotten stuck in his throat at seeing the _true_ merchandise.

"It is, so please feast your eyes and choose whichever one you want, little brother." The store was filled with women. Women on display. Naked women on display. "Um… brother… what kind of store is this?" "A store for the rich and privileged to choose their preferred… playmate. You want one or not?" Sasuke didn't know what to do, he'd never been in a room with so many boobs before. The women differed greatly amongst them, some were beautiful, some were not. Some were cocky and confident, others were shy or scared, and seemed to hide behind the bustier ones. He understood and appreciated his brother's effort, but he'd already figured out that ladies weren't exactly for him. And having a fuckbuddy wouldn't do anything to help his trouble at school, unless…

"Do you only have women?" His brother quirked an eyebrow and the salesman plastered a winning smile on his face. "Of course not! We have plenty of fair young men in the other room, if you're interested, young sir?" "I don't care for fairness, or age. I want a strong one, can you offer me that?" He'd been hated for his privileged lineage and rich parents, and when he accidentally spilled to his 'friend' that he might not be so certain about his sexuality after endless internal struggles the entire school knew the next day, and the other children's hatred towards him ten folded. Needless to say, he hasn't had any friends since.

So to have a personal bodyguard to protect him and take care of him might be even better than owning a gun… and he wouldn't have to be so lonely anymore. "Oh yes! We have any kind you can think of, just follow me." While his brother was busy squeezing various breasts he followed the salesman into the next room, there was a door next to it with a triple lock securing it. Suddenly he was in a room filled with naked men, and for someone not entirely comfortable with his sexuality there were a few dozen too many… things dangling around. He could feel his face heating up at the inquisitive gazes aimed at him, but willed himself to focus. The store's trademark really did seem to be the nimble and fair-skinned kind, but that wasn't what he wanted.

"If you're looking for a dominant top these are the best I can offer." The salesman pushed him towards a few larger men, with suitingly larger dangly bits. Sasuke stood sputtering, "That's not what I meant! I meant someone who is strong as in he can fight, I'm looking for a bodyguard, not a… top." He felt awkward just saying it, if his brother had been there he'd surely made a joke about never being able to get laid if he can't even say the word. The salesman scratched the back of his head, "I'm not sure I've got what you're looking for then, I've got strong ones, but they're not really fighters or anything." Sasuke felt a little desperate, he'd already started getting used to the idea of having someone around to protect him, and now it was impossible? "You must have _something_?" The man sent a calculating look his way. "I do have one thing… but I'm not sure it's safe to release him into your custody, not safe for you I mean." "Let me see him."

They walked to the other door, and one by one the locks were undone. Itachi had made his choice in merchandise and decided to join them. Behind the door was a long, barren hallway with a thick iron door at the end. At the centre of the door was a window of thick iron bars, behind it was only darkness. "We've had this one in stock for many years, but every time he's been sold he… came back in our possession shortly after." "How come?" Itachi asked. "Well…" The salesman fidgeted with his keys. "The last time we got him back because… he bit his owner's face off." Really? Sasuke was more than a little interested now. "He's a real fighter alright, just impossible to control, do you want him?"

Sasuke leaned forward to stare into the small cell. In the corner sat a figure shrouded in darkness, there was no light behind the door. He was curled up in a ball, and let out a low growl at being watched. The figure looked up, and Sasuke was greeted with two deep red eyes, burning as if hell was aflame in them. He felt a chill shoot up his spine while those eyes stared straight into his soul, and looked away.

"I'll take him."


	2. Chapter One

Satin Shackles.

Chapter One.

Sasuke was at a loss, his 'toy' had been delivered after a few days, and now he didn't know what to do. The man had been led to the house in shackles, his posture hunched and face hidden. As soon as they brought him inside Sasuke ordered them to release him, after which the man scurried through the room and into the mansion in a bug-like manner. That was a week ago, and he still hadn't been able to find him. His mother was hysterical after hearing what kind of a thing he'd entered into her house, and both his parents and his brother decided to stay at the family beach house until Sasuke managed to get things under control.

Well, that was a lot easier said than done, he'd looked everywhere and the man was just impossible to find. He'd even left food out in certain places to lure him out, but had been unsuccessful. He _did_ notice food disappearing from the pantry every day, though, so at least he was eating well enough. Sasuke slumped down on the couch in the large living room. This wasn't exactly how he'd imagined things to start off between them, how were you supposed to connect to someone that isn't around? So he'd skipped school for the few days he'd been looking, and devoted his time to doing… unthreatening things. Which included sleeping, reading books, sitting in the garden and making double servings of dinner. One of which he left on the kitchen table after he went to bed, and the plate would always be empty the next morning.

After an entire week of stealthily searching the house and being as non-threatening as he could be Sasuke decided there was only one place his supposed protector could be: the basement. He hadn't looked there before, and all the other rooms had video surveillance – he found the monitors while searching his brother's room… creepy – so he had to go down there.

For a few moments he stood motionless before the door that was hidden away under the staircase. He wanted to lift his arm and open it but found he couldn't, he didn't want to, every fiber of his being screamed at him not to. The basement was a bad place; it was dark, cold and filled with old things and rejected memories. Every time he went in there as a kid bad things had happened, he couldn't will himself to move forward. Until he heard it, a sound. A delicate noise of someone shuffling around, and then a metal thing falling over, bouncing noisily on the concrete floor. It was followed by a nervous shriek and more shuffling noises and other things falling over. Eventually a loud 'thud' resounded from just beyond the door and everything went silent.

Sasuke reached out, grabbed the cold metal of the doorknob and opened the door in one smooth movement. Before him was a broad wooden stairs with bare concrete walls encasing it from both sides, leading down into the darkness. Apparently he wouldn't be so lucky as to find the man without having to go down… he tried the light switch but the bulb had burned out long ago.

He firmly placed his hands on the walls on either side and slowly slid his foot down to the first step. Immediately the air around him seemed to thicken, pressing down on his ears and numbing him. Every breath was a laboured effort and he had to take a few seconds to force himself to take another step down, another step away from the light. As soon as his foot touched the sturdy old wood he felt a spark shoot through him, distant memories were slowly resurfacing. He closed his eyes to try and calm down, but without vision of the light a forgotten noise started resounding in his mind. It became louder and louder with every gasping breath he took, the creaking sound… of the door closing behind him.

At the sound of the heavy lock falling into place he stopped breathing and opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything, around him was only darkness. The silence surrounding him was pressing down on him, weightlessly heavy; a high static beep was the only thing penetrating his mind. That… and the shadows moving around him. His head felt sluggish, no matter how he gasped he couldn't get any air in his lungs, it was as if he was trying to walk under water. He took one more step and the shadows opened their eyes, they were staring at him, everywhere, and they were getting closer every time he blinked. One of his hands slipped off the wall and he fell down on the broad step, immediately he grabbed his head and hid between his knees. His entire body felt like ice, shaking with a fear greater than anything he ever remembered experiencing.  
"Go away, go away, go away please just go away…" he repeated his whispered mantra over and over again, or at least he thought he did, all he could hear was the shrill, mocking laughter coming from every side. After a while he couldn't take it anymore, the laughter became louder and louder and his pleas didn't help a thing, he could feel them tugging at his clothes. In a last act of desperation he flailed his arms around and screamed "GET AWAY FROM ME!"  
The countless insane, rolling eyes were staring at him only inches from his face. His arms were grabbed and he got sucked into the dark.

It took a while for him to wake up again, but when he finally opened his eyes it was bright around him. He had to blink a few times to clear his vision, and realised he wasn't in the basement anymore, instead he was lying on his bed. Sasuke slowly sat up, all the while trying to recall what could have caused him to pass out like that… and how he got all the way up two flights of stairs; up to his bed. The answer presented itself when he looked around his room a bit and discovered something that wasn't supposed to be there. Perched atop his desk sat something he could only identify as a creature. It was squatting on the balls of its feet, and its arms were folded neatly over its knees. Its eyes were deep red, and staring intensely at him from over the filthy fabric covering his arms. Complete with the dark hood covering its head it was impossible to discern his face, but even just those blood red eyes were a welcome sight after what had been staring at him in the darkness.

Sasuke swallowed thickly and cleared his throat, the creature's eyes widened and he swiftly jumped off the desk and started shuffling/crawling towards the door. "Wait!" Sasuke's voice was raspy but he didn't care. He didn't want to be alone anymore. "I-I promise I won't hurt you, so please stay…" The creature looked up at him with a distrusting glint in his eyes, hiding behind the doorframe. The hunched over… person, Sasuke supposed you could call him, shuffled a little closer and startled both of them with the jingling sound that came from his hands. "I have the keys!" Sasuke exclaimed excitedly at seeing an opportunity to earn the other's trust, and he slipped his legs from under the blanket and stood. Immediately he became incredibly dizzy, he fell to his knees and everything turned black, again.

How embarrassing, he'd passed out twice in one day, but at least both times seemed to have brought a positive change in the other's behaviour. Sasuke pretended to still be out while he cautiously watched the other shuffle around his room. He was back in his bed again, and the longer he observed the other, the more fascinated he became. The person only looked like an odd creature because he obviously hadn't been taking care of himself. His face, neck, arms and hands, along with several places on his hoodie were covered in food. Sauce, ground up pasta, anything. The rest of him was dirty as well, probably from crawling around in all the nooks and corners the maids stealthily skipped. He was dusty and unkempt, his hair was too long and his trousers too small, he'd even ripped them in places to enable movement. But the main reason the person, the man, was crawling around so awkwardly was due to the heavy set of handcuffs that were limiting his movements.

Sasuke held his breath and kept his eyes closed shut when the bed dipped to one side from the weight of the other climbing on top of it, and him. The man leaned over him, and Sasuke had a hard time keeping still with the greasy strands of hair tickling his face. He couldn't help himself anymore and opened his eyes when he felt gusts of wind on his neck and froze. The man was _sniffing_ him! The man immediately noticed the hitch in his lovely smelling subjects breath, grabbed both the other's hands in one of his own and clamped his other hand down over Sasuke's throat. When Sasuke tried to speak he growled ferociously and bared his teeth, but his threatening methods had quite the opposite effects.

Sasuke couldn't believe it, the man hovering over him was… incredibly handsome. His dark eyes were framed by thick, blond eyebrows, his cheekbones seemed chiselled and he had a strong jaw. The lips that bared his white teeth were full, and his nose straight. There were three long scars on either side of his face, but instead of disfigure him they only seemed to add to his features. The body on top of him was heavy, and the grip the man had on him felt like steel. He was feral, like a wild beast, and his eyes were dark and guarded, but beneath all the anger, hurt and rage there seemed to be a small sliver of hope left in them. He looked at him, not through him, like his peers, not past him, like his parents. This man looked straight at him, as if he could see into his very soul, and didn't look away.

And so Sasuke fell in love with him.

For a while they sat like that, neither one of them speaking or looking away. When Sasuke tried to lift himself up a bit the man roughly pushed him down again, and immediately his entire body started heating up. The man frowned when Sasuke's face started to turn red, and to keep from embarrassing himself he swallowed and whispered his instructions. "The keys are in the nightstand…" After averting his eyes from the calculating look the man sent his way he was suddenly released, the other stood out of reach and kept an eye on him while he rummaged through the small wooden compartment. While he was standing up straight the man was big… much bigger than he'd seemed while crawling around hunched over. Sasuke would probably be lucky to even reach the man's shoulder length while standing up himself, and he suddenly felt like a child.

0

Naruto was confused. He didn't understand why he'd felt the need to carry the screaming child out of the dark place and into his bedroom, he knew where it was because he made sure to keep an eye on the frail person at all times in the past few days, and he didn't understand why the kid had been acting so… weird. The whole week his pale new _master_ had been going around looking for him, which of course was to be expected. But when he still hadn't called the shop to return him after a few days, and even left food out for him and stopped acting threatening in any way… well, he was confused.

What exactly had he been bought for? There was no way he'd let that little squirt stick it in him without being seriously tied up and probably sedated, something his previous owners had learned the hard way, and they had paid for their mistakes with their lives. But this boy seemed more timid and shy than anything else, he hadn't scolded him, hell, he'd even thanked him! So what was supposed to be his purpose here?

When he found the keys he turned back to the young man who now probably called himself his owner and decided to take a bit of a risk, he handed the small metal keys to him and held out his wrists.

Sasuke was… surprised by the gesture, but he eagerly took the keys from the man, who managed to keep himself from flinching, and quickly opened the shackles. Naruto threw the iron cuffs that had been cutting into his flesh aside and gleefully rubbed his wrists. He didn't step away. Sasuke's heart skipped a beat at that, could it be that the man finally started to trust him a little? He almost smiled, until he took a closer look at the man's wrists. The places where the cuffs had cut weren't the only thing the man was rubbing. His entire lower arms seemed to be covered with old scars, seemingly caused by ropes cutting into it… how long had he been kept tied up in that shop?

Naruto felt a spark of hope light up at the way the boy released him, maybe he wasn't so bad, maybe this time he'd landed in a good place… no. He forced himself to stop that train of thought before he could get too optimistic. He'd been treated well before, and in his experience the ones who started out kind and gentle always turned out to be the most sadistic and abusive rapists. And he could identify many kinds, not to any of his joy. Somehow he ended up getting lost in his thoughts, but was rudely awakened when the boy _touched him_. He took a staggering step back and nearly tripped over the bedside table when the other's fingers gently grazed his scarred arm.

He took another step back while he tried to get his breathing under control, what was wrong with him? He could NEVER let his guard down, around NO ONE. The boy sat on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped together between his legs. He looked up with those deceptive big black eyes and seemed… apologetic?  
"I'm sorry…" He spoke softly, "But you don't have to be so afraid… I would never do such a thing to you as tying you up. I'll take good care of you, I promise." At the last bit he seemed almost desperate. Naruto kneeled at the boy's feet, and rested his forehead on one of the other's knees, he could hear the young man's breath hitch. I that wasn't a sign of trust he didn't know what was. He wanted to believe it, the sweet words, and the gentle approach. But every time he took the chance and opened himself up it was only that much more painful to inevitably have his heart ripped apart again. There was no way he could ever trust his new master… but he could pretend.

"Unless… you'd rather have me return you to the shop?" Return to the shop, to that dark, cold cell. Return to the meals of ground up whatever it once was, return to shitting in one corner and sleeping in the other. Return to being so tied up that the only way to move around is to crawl like a worm, to eat like an animal. Return to _him_, the shopkeeper… that filthy, horrid, pig of a man and his nightly visits. Never. He looked up at the boy, who was nervously chewing on his own bottom lip, and shook his head. Immediately the boy's face bloomed into a smile, and Naruto couldn't help but think about how, at that exact moment, the kid looked about as threatening and dangerous as a cupcake. So he smiled back at him.

It felt odd, to use his facial muscles to show an expression so foreign to him, but he managed to pull it off.  
"So…" Sasuke continued with renewed vigour, how lucky he was! Not only would the man rather stay with him, he even smiled! In a creepy, serial killer kind of way… but still it was a smile! "Can you… talk?" Naruto nodded. Yes he could, didn't mean he was gonna though. For the kid it seemed to be enough, however. "That's great! My name is Sasuke, do you want to tell me yours?" Naruto shook his head, he wasn't planning on sticking around long enough for it to make a difference. As soon as the kid - _Sasuke_, what kind of name was that? – trusted him enough to go outside together he'd be gone. It'd be better not the let him get too attached, he may have been forced to spend a lot of time with cruel people and felt no mercy for those who deserved to get their skulls caved in, he was a kind person at heart. It wasn't his intention to harm an innocent in the progress of finding his freedom.

"Okay then, would you like to take a bath? We have a really big tub and you can even put it in Jacuzzi mode! I could find you some clothes and fix dinner while you wash up?" The boy looked at him so expectantly that he couldn't possibly say no, and when he sat in the warm, bubbling water with the smell of cooking meat wafting through the air Naruto's plans for escaping were temporarily put on hold. For the time being his master wasn't half bad, his food was nice and the towels were _really_ fluffy. If push came to shove and Sasuke turned out to actually be a good guy… well… maybe he wouldn't mind sticking around a little longer.


	3. Chapter Two

Satin Shackles.

Chapter Two.

This. Is. AWESOME! Naruto was putting down some serious asskicking, just by mashing the buttons on his plastic little thing. His character did some weird special move and Sasuke's character was K.O. "You won again… _How_ did you win again? You don't even know how to play it!" Sasuke threw his controller to the side and stomped off to the kitchen, leaving a smug blonde alone on the couch. Naruto turned off the console and followed him; this had been a good night. He felt fresh and clean, there were no more creepy-crawlies making his head itch and his stomach was so full he felt ready to explode. They had some issues too, however, like when Sasuke had tried to attack him with scissors for some reason, and when Sasuke had tried to attack him with a wet cloth after dinner, and also when Sasuke had tried to attack him with a spoon just two seconds after he walked into the kitchen. "Why do you have to be so difficult, just take the damn spoon!" Sasuke wobbled back into the living room with two big bowls of ice-cream, and handed one to Naruto after they both sat down on the couch. Naruto liked the couch; it was big, soft, blue, and smelled like cheese. "You know what ice-cream is, right?" Sasuke asked when all he received was a blank stare. Naruto looked down at the bowl in his hands, it was cold, and the stuff in it looked weird. Sasuke shook his head and just grabbed a spoonful of his own, "Its dessert, fatty desert and so good…" He put the spoon in his mouth and sucked the ice-cream off it before letting it melt in his mouth and making a pleased humming noise.

Naruto deducted that the stuff was apparently for eating, seemed to taste good and was not poisonous. He poked at it with his own spoon and put a little bit of it in his mouth. Within 30 seconds his bowl was empty. Sasuke just sat there, amazed and with most of his own food still uneaten when Naruto nudged him in the shoulder with his empty bowl and said his very first word to him. "More." His voice was raspy after not using it for so long, and Sasuke decided to make it his life's mission to get him all kinds of delicious things to eat, just so he could hear him speak again.  
And then they were content. After Sasuke finished his bowl and Naruto another six they both needed some time to let their tummies settle, and what better way to do it than the couchpotato way. While they were just sitting there, watching tv and digesting their food, Sasuke gave Naruto a bit of a closer inspection. His hair was clean now, and shone like yellow gold, but it was too long, far too long, it hung before his eyes and hid away most of his face… such a shame. The clothes he was wearing belonged to his brother, but since he never wore them they'd been set aside for when Sasuke had grown big enough to fit them and he figured it'd be okay. He looked good, though it looked weird, the only things that fit his unusual body type were baggy black sweatpants, he had legs that were too thick to fit in any of his other pants, giant orange socks with anti-slip nubs on the soles and a green hoody with a big frog printed on it and green mouse-ears on the hood, his arms were thick too, while the rest of his frame was surprisingly slim, the sleeves were long and hid his arms. Naruto had picked out those clothes, he liked them and they were comfy, also he kept slipping up over the slick wooden floors that were _everywhere_, one would think they'd put some rugs in their home but apparently not.

For a long time they did nothing but sit in a comfortable silence and watch whatever trashy show happened to be on tv. It was getting late, with making dinner and taking care of the other Sasuke hadn't really noticed the time slipping by, but he wasn't a nightly person. Early to bed, early to rise, while Naruto was the complete opposite. That was also the reason why Naruto didn't really see it coming when the other suddenly seemed to fall asleep. Sasuke felt himself getting drowsy, but he really didn't want to go to bed, not now that they were actually having a pretty good time. But he couldn't stop the drowsiness that overcame him, and eventually pulled him into sleep. He slowly slid further and further to the side, until his head landed against Naruto's side. He sat frozen, not knowing what to do. The boy had gone out of his way to make him comfortable and to avoid touching him, so he probably wasn't doing this on purpose, but Naruto had a bit of a hard time keeping calm when the kid swiftly wrapped both his arms around his middle and groaning pressed his face into his stomach. He tried to pry off the surprisingly strong grip the kid had on him, but that only resulted in a worse situation when Sasuke twisted around a bit and lay sprawled over the couch, with his head in Naruto's lap and his arms still firmly locked around him.

He couldn't breathe, a fear of which he knew that it was completely irrational settled in his mind and he started to panic. With everything that was happening he'd been letting himself open up more and more, and now it was happening, he'd thrown himself into the deep end _long_ before he was ready to, and he couldn't handle it. "let me go." The whispered words left his throat in panicky breaths while he shakily tried to get loose, but in return Sasuke only held him tighter. "letmegonow" his mind was getting cloudy, he couldn't think. He tried to push him away but the kid wouldn't let up, his sight was getting blotchy. "get off… GET OFF ME NOW" and he kicked him, hard. Sasuke fell on his back on the wooden floor, all the air was being forced out of his lungs by the impact and kick in his ribs. And then Naruto ran, he didn't know where, he just needed to get away, and now he was even more scared. He kicked him, he kicked his owner. Any kindness the young man would grant him would be lost now, he knew it, he ruined it, he ruined _everything_.

Sasuke took a while to recover, he didn't know what happened, but it must've been something bad. And it _hurt_! It really frickin' hurt! He tried to recall what happened, but couldn't, all he knew was that one moment he was dozing off, and the next he was kicked like all hell broke loose and now he couldn't get up and the other was gone. Great. After some time he got himself together enough to get up, and after checking all the rooms downstairs and not finding him anywhere he shut off the lights and went to bed. When he turned on the lights in his bedroom there was a shuffling sound and then silence, but there seemed to be no one there. He took a few steps in, and more shuffling could be heard, it came from under his desk. "Hello?" a soft 'thud' sound could be heard, and he walked over to the dark spot under the desk, before sinking to his knees and cocking his head to the side to look under it. It was not a pretty sight. The other sat with his back pressed against the wall, making himself as small as possible, he had his legs pulled up to his chest, hiding his face behind his knees. One of his sleeves was pulled up and he was nervously scratching his scarred arm, at the sound of Sasuke's voice he glanced up, and even behind his long bangs Sasuke could see that the man's eyes, which had been a deep sapphire colour ever since the bath, had turned red and hostile again.

Sasuke slowly sat down; winced and grabbed his side in pain when he turned a little wrong, and the man seemed to press himself into the darkness even further, pressing his face into the soft fabric of his pants. "I… I don't know what I did." Sasuke started hesitantly. "But it must've scared you pretty bad, huh?" he bit his lower lip and Naruto looked up. He was confused, where was this going? He hadn't been hit yet, and his young master didn't really sound mad either… "I'm really sorry; I promise I won't do it again, so please come out?" He was… apologising? NO! It's probably a trap to get him to come out! Naruto shook his head. "Okay then." Sasuke stood with another wince and spoke sadly. He turned off the light and started undressing, Naruto was scared. Again, he knew that it was completely irrational, but when bad things happen in a certain situation often enough, one tends to want to avoid that kind of situations.

Sasuke stood in his underpants and was embarrassed. It had somehow slipped his mind that he was wearing white underwear with pink hearts on them, and now the other could see. Luckily it was dark, so his blush probably wouldn't be noticed. He grabbed the extra duvet from under his bed and put it on the floor in front of the desk. Then he crawled in his own bed, pulled up the covers and wished the other a good night. He got no reply, but that was what he expected.

The next morning Sasuke rose early, like always, and he found himself wishing it was still the day before. Because now it was Monday, and Monday meant school, and school meant complete and utter torment and humiliation. He got dressed quietly, trying his best not to disturb the comfortably snoring person who had made himself a nest under his desk. He ate some breakfast and put a plate of sandwiches out for the other before packing his bag and leaving for school. The bus ride was calm, which was lucky, sometimes some of his classmates would take the same bus as him, but he managed to avoid that, mostly, by always arriving an hour early. Though the bus ride might've gone off easy, the rest of the day did not. And the bus ride home was the worst, usually he'd stick around the school library for a while so everyone would already be gone, but now they even got to him there. When it was finally his stop he quickly got off, he was happy to be home, but felt about ready to cry.

He put the key in the lock, opened the door and closed it behind him, trudged up the stairs and managed to keep his legs from falling out from under him until he reached his bed. Then he fell, face first onto the mattress and let everything he'd bottled up during just that one day pour out.

Naruto was having a very strange day. Sasuke seemed to have disappeared, which was odd. But he'd left food behind for him and still hadn't beaten him, so apparently he wasn't mad. Or so he hoped. He decided to invest the rest of his time into practicing that video game Sasuke liked. And then he'd come home, and Naruto hid behind a tall pot plant. The young man didn't look good. He was wearing a school uniform, but it was torn at the knees and elbows. His bag was covered in mud and he was missing one shoe, he had a big bruise on his face. And then he was crying, really loud. His thin frame shook with every loud and painful sob that tore from the boy's body. He was clutching his pillow to his chest and pressing his face in it, and Naruto quietly left. Sasuke had dropped his bag by the door, ad he decided that just one tiny peek wouldn't hurt. He took out the papers, most people didn't expect it, but he could actually read quite well. There were a bunch of tests, on which the kid's scored incredibly high, but his textbooks were all crumpled and stained, some even had pages ripped out of them… it didn't seem like something Sasuke would do. Most of the space was taken up by balled up pieces of paper, some pages from his own books, with profanities and threats written all over them. They all seemed to be addressed to 'you disgusting fucking fag'.  
"What are you doing with my bag?" Fuck.

He dropped the sheet he was holding and jumped back, squatting behind the tall pot plant once again. Sasuke didn't say anything else, however, and just started picking up the crumpled pieces of paper and throwing them in the unlit fireplace. Naruto peeked from behind the fat leaves. The kid had put on other clothes, he now wore a baggy tee and shorts, the cuts and scrapes on his elbows and knees were clear to see. There were pink circles around his eyes, and he still sniffled occasionally, but he seemed to have pulled himself together quite well. But then he re-read the last note Naruto was handling, and his resolve seemed to crumble. The elder of the two crabwalked over to him, picked up the piece of paper, read it once more, nodded and stuffed it in his mouth. Sasuke stared at him incredulously, and neither of them moved while Naruto slowly chewed and eventually swallowed the note. "Did you just eat it?" and Naruto opened his mouth so he could see that yes, he did. And Sasuke sent him a teary eyed smile.  
And then something changed. The young man sat in front of him, snot dripping from one nostril and frantically rubbing his eyes, his skinny, pale legs were exposed and his hair was sticking to his face and neck from the quick shower he just took. Naruto decided that he'd been an idiot. There was nothing dangerous or threatening about the kid, nothing malicious or mean. He'd just assumed all those things, while the kid was just that. A kid, one that was a victim of other people's cruelty just like he had been. He slowly reached out, hands trembling and every muscle in his body protesting, but he tuned it out, kept his fear at bay, just for a little, and grabbed Sasuke's hand. The other immediately stopped breathing, and Naruto noticed that he himself was having a very low level of oxygen intake as well, so he took a deep breath and stood, pulling the other along. He didn't let go until they were both sitting on the couch, and picked up their controllers. The game started and the afternoon flew by.

Itachi was pissed off, a week, a horrible, endless, god-awful _week_ in HELL. That's where he'd been, stuck in the tiny beach house with his parents. He knew Sasuke needed some time, but he couldn't take it anymore. As soon as he entered the house something was off. Sasuke's bag was by the door. That wasn't supposed to happen, the kid always cleaned up after himself perfectly. The crumbled papers in the fireplace hadn't been lit, which was also off, the kid always destroyed any evidence of what happened to him before anyone could see it. And there were sounds coming out of the living room, while he would normally be up in his room studying at this time. He snuck a peek into the other room, took the scene that unfolded before his very eyes in, and headed up to his room, toys in tow. He needed some relief, and soon.

They played for hours, Naruto getting better, Sasuke getting better at beating him. And after 'best out of 76' it was time for something else. They made lemon squares, ate them, and watched some tv. They didn't really speak, since Naruto still didn't speak, but eventually Sasuke dared to shuffle closer and closer until they were practically touching. And Naruto didn't move away. Their hands brushed and the man flinched, but still didn't pull away. And then, in a moment that felt to Sasuke like the angels had decided to descend from heaven and drug his mind into a lovely oblivion, Naruto put his arm around him. "Is it… is it really okay?" And the man nodded. And so he sank deeper into the embrace, he could _feel_ the man's warmth seep through his shirt and it made him feel fuzzy inside, the entire day seemed to slide off him. After a while he dared to move his arm across the other's stomach, and the man didn't stop him. And so they sat, and watched tv, and sometimes Naruto would rub his hand over Sasuke's shoulder, or adjust their seating a little. And every time he felt himself getting lightheaded from the man's touch.

Naruto was struggling for breath, but he could do it, all he needed was perseverance. Calm anxiety, stop heart from having an attack, refrain from brain shutting down, this was super easy. "This is a really bad show. Wanna watch something else?" he looked up expectantly, waiting for a nod or headshake. But instead the man scraped his throat, took a deep breath and faced him, eyes deep blue. "Yes." Sasuke swallowed thickly, and quickly nodded as if it was no big deal. "Okay! Yes! So! Watch shall we watch then? What kind of shows do you like?" The man took another deep breath, this was difficult, _really _difficult. "A-anything with noodles, please. And… it's Naruto."


End file.
